New York and Washington

 On my camera this photo was slightly less dark. I may have to do stuff to it in photoshop. Anyway. This is us on our first night in New York on Top of the Rock with the Empire State Building in the background. We were all completely knackered but it was worth it for the views. Just after I took this there was loud whooping and cheering from the other end of the observation deck - someone had just proposed to his girlfriend - ah!

 The next day we went to the Statue of Liberty. They all went to the top and I stayed at here at the pedestal level, it was much safer. It was a very hot day. We saw the 9/11 memorial after that then crashed at the hotel for a bit before heading off to the Baseball Match.

 Baseball was fun, once I'd figured out the rules. The confusing bit was why the whole team didn't come out to bat. Then Caitlin explain that they only bat til three players are out. We were quite high up in the stadium and it got a bit windy. I had to buy Caitlin and Ellie t-shirts.

 On Saturday we had brunch in Central Park and had a wander around. Then it rained a bit. So we visited the Marvel Station exhibition in Times Square. Times Square was my least favourite part of New York. It was too crowded and they are digging half of it up so all you can do is walk round the edges. Stupid people.

 Back in Times Square in the evening we met Jackie and Alan. They'd just arrived. We went for a drink and a bite to eat in a very nice Irish bar called The Mean Fiddler. It was all a bit surreal, but nice.

 Amtrack to Washington yesterday. We arrived at 12.30 and managed to see all the major sites in one day. We walked past the FBI building to the White House, couldn't get up to the black fence cos they were closing the sidewalk as we arrived so had to view it from the grass across the road. Then over to the Lincoln Memorial, stopping for a drink by one of the lakes. We walked down one side of the long rectangular Reflecting Pool and stopped for another rest. Then just beyond that was the WWII memorial where everyone sat with their feet in the water.

We did the same. After that we had our slot to go up to the top of the Washington Memorial. Great views and a bargain considering it was free apart from the $6 booking fee. We got about half a mile away from the Capitol Building before deciding we were too hot, hungry and fed up of walking to go any further, but we got some good photos of it.
   On the whole, although there is more to see and do in New York, Washington is my favourite so far. It's cleaner, spacier, fresher somehow.

I Survived a Teenage Birthday Party

Last weekend was Caitlin's birthday party. She managed to sneak one in under the request, 'Can I have a few friends round?' I should've been paying more attention. The next thing I knew a few friends had turned into ten seventeen year olds doing their own barbeque and sleeping in a tent in the garden. The 'No alcohol' rule ended with my green recycling box overflowing.

This is the aftermath. Only about four of them lasted the night in the tent despite the lovely weather. There are no photos of Caitlin - or none that she would send me anyway. We were banished inside shortly after eating. I got a bit of video but that was it.

Segovia, Spain

This is the city of Segovia in Spain, a one hour drive north west of Madrid. I spent a few days here the week before last. It is beautiful and not at all what I expected. My preconceptions were all based on Spain's Mediterranean coast full of British tourists in August. This was a pleasant surprise. 



 The city has a massive aqueduct through the centre and is the main tourist attraction. It is over 2000 years old and built by the Romans. I got too much sun on my head in Madrid the day before, hence the stupid hat. It was only 5Euros. And it was quite cold that day too.

 In between teaching assignments we had time for some day trips. This was me at Hoces Del Duraton. A beautiful canyon with lots of river bends. There were vultures flying overhead and a hermitage built right on the end of one of the cliffs. Of all the places I have been to on our Comenius trips this was my favourite. If I had to come back I would not be upset about it. Also - tapas is so much better in Spain than in England too! (And cheap.)

Things We Have Been Up To

 We all went down to Chudleigh, in South Devon, the other day, so Carl could use his Christmas present. He learnt how to fly a plane. We spent a lot of time watching the back of his head, but he had fun and it was a giggle when he crash-landed (twice!) Good job we couldn't actually feel it.

 After that it was Andrew's turn, then we all went for a picnic.

 Last Sunday, in an attempt to avoid Ellie turning into a hermit, we took the dog for a walk around Fremington Quay, followed, of course, by cake and a drink in the café. Alannah came along too.

Caitlin has been doing lots of revision. Good girl!

Bristol

We had a day out on Tuesday and went to Bristol to do some shopping. I was listening to Simon Mayo's 'three word Tuesday' section on the radio in the car home and wondered what mine would be. 'Excess IKEA overspend', I decided. Why is it when you go to IKEA you always come out with more than you intended to? I wanted 4 things. I bought 15! Still, I did get the last pair of curtains in the colour I wanted. Adrienne's room is nearly all finished. I just have to wait for next week for the carpet and 7th May for the bed (don't trust BedShed when they say they can deliver in 3-10 working days - they're lying).

After IKEA we stopped at Cribbs Causeway - whoever designed that road system really didn't like motorists. When we found the car park it was relatively empty, possibly because the road system had confused all the other motorists still trying to find it. We bought holiday clothes, had a cup of tea and a cake, then came home again. 'All shopped out' might have been another of my three word choices.

Hockings in March

Despite the freezing cold wind, the sky was blue across North Devon today, so the Hockings Ice Cream van was out and people were buying ice creams. Yum! It turns out that Hockings ice cream is still delicious even when you can no longer feel your fingers. Just look how quickly Ellie's disappeared.

Italy

 I have just returned from a week in Italy where I spent most of the time in Urbino, pictured here. My friend Paola told me it is impossible to get lost in Urbino, you have only two choices to go in - up or down. She is right. This is the centre of Urbino and from here there are four roads in a cross, all of them go up. Urbino is up the mountains of Italy, and for most of the time it was cold and/or raining. So it was a complete contrast when we got to Rome on Friday.

 We arrived in the centre, having dropped our bags at the hotel, at around 12.30 and spent the rest of the day walking to see as much as we could in the short time we had. We squeezed in pizza and beer on the Spanish Steps,

 ice cream at the Trevi Fountain, a visit to the Parthenon, a walk around Piazza Novona where all the artists are busy at work (the Roman equivalent of Sacre Coeur), and a trip to the Vatican. After that our feet hurt so we returned to the hotel for our evening meal.

On Saturday we went to the Colosseum, the Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum. I didn't think there would be as much of that as there was, we spent hours walking around the Roman Forum, it went on forever. I liked Rome, I didn't think it would impress me as much as London or Paris but it really did.